Redskins

Josh Wilson: Brandon Meriweather Hits Weren’t ‘Dirty’

Safety Brandon Meriweather #31 of the Washington Redskins celebrates after wide receiver Santana Moss #89 of the Washington Redskins touchdown in the third quarter at FedEx Field on November 18, 2012 in Landover, Maryland. (Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON (CBSDC) - Redskins’ corner Josh Wilson defended teammate Brandon Meriweather and hits he made on defenseless Bears receivers Sunday – which earned him a two-game suspension from the NFL – saying they weren’t “dirty hits” in an interview with 106.7 The Fan’s Holden and Danny on Monday.

Meriweather was suspended over a helmet-to-helmet hit on Alshon Jeffery in the third quarter, and a helmet-first upper-body hit on Brandon Marshall in the fourth quarter of the Redskins’ 45-41 victory over the Bears in Washington.

Meriweather’s repeat-offender status was cited by the NFL as reason for the stiff penalty enforced. Earlier in the season, he was fined $42k after knocking out Packers running back Eddie Lacy with a helmet-to-helmet hit; a game in which Meriweather himself would leave early due to concussion symptoms suffered after administering a high tackle on James Starks.

“Well a lot of the penalties and the things that people are saying that is dangerous what he’s doing, is just because the nature of where the game has turned to, where it’s all about protection of everybody’s bodies and heads,” Wilson said, when asked what Meriweather can do to avoid hurting people.

“Like the Lacy hit, he didn’t hit him in the head,” Wilson said. “He hit him in his chest and just caught a piece of his chin and Lacy was knocked out. I wouldn’t call that a dirty play. That’s a football play that just hit him at the wrong angle.”

Holden Kushner, listing the previous (and above-mentioned) infractions, insisted Meriweather is too-often involved in questionable hits to dismiss it as a matter of technique.

“Well the Starks one, I mean that was, Starks put his helmet into him,” Wilson said. “That’s not something he can control. How are you supposed to tackle a guy, a guy that bends his head? The one yesterday with Jeffery, he hit him clear with his shoulder into Jeffery’s shoulder. Those aren’t dirty hits. He wasn’t trying to hurt Jeffery. He hit him way below his helmet. And the one with Brandon Marshall, as a defensive player in the red zone, in the end zone, you don’t have a lot of time to make a decision, and he’s just trying to knock the ball free and stop the touchdown, and Brandon Marshall curls up. If I have a split second to make a hit, and make a ball-dislodging hit and the player changes the angle of his body, how do I readjust?”